Perpendicular magnetic recording disk with ultrathin nucleation film for improved corrosion resistance and method for making the disk

ABSTRACT

A perpendicular magnetic recording disk has a granular cobalt alloy recording layer (RL) containing an additive oxide or oxides, an intermediate layer (IL) as an exchange-break layer on the “soft” magnetic underlayer (SUL), and an ultrathin nucleation film (NF) between the IL and the RL. In the method of making the disk, the IL is deposited at a relatively low sputtering pressure, to thereby reduce the roughness of the RL and overcoat (OC), while the NF and RL are deposited at substantially higher sputtering pressures. The resulting disk has good recording properties and improved corrosion resistance over a comparable disk made with an IL deposited at high sputtering pressure and without the NF. The NF may be a discontinuous film with an average thickness of less than about 1 nm.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/314,128filed Dec. 21, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to perpendicular magnetic recordingmedia, and more particularly to a disk with a perpendicular magneticrecording layer for use in magnetic recording hard disk drives.

2. Description of the Related Art

Perpendicular magnetic recording, wherein the recorded bits are storedin a perpendicular or out-of-plane orientation in the recording layer,is a promising path toward ultra-high recording densities in magneticrecording hard disk drives. A common type of perpendicular magneticrecording system is one that uses a “dual-layer” media. This type ofsystem is shown in FIG. 1 with a single write pole type of recordinghead. The dual-layer media includes a perpendicular magnetic datarecording layer (RL) formed on a “soft” or relatively low-coercivitymagnetically permeable underlayer (SUL). The SUL serves as a flux returnpath for the field from the write pole to the return pole of therecording head. In FIG. 1, the RL is illustrated with perpendicularlyrecorded or magnetized regions, with adjacent regions having oppositemagnetization directions, as represented by the arrows. The magnetictransitions between adjacent oppositely-directed magnetized regions aredetectable by the read element or head as the recorded bits.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a cross-section of a prior art perpendicularmagnetic recording disk showing the write field H_(w) acting on therecording layer RL. The disk also includes the hard disk substrate, aseed or onset layer (OL) for growth of the SUL, an intermediate layer(IL) between the SUL and the RL, and a protective overcoat (OC). The ILis a nonmagnetic layer or multilayer structure, also called an “exchangebreak layer” or EBL, that breaks the magnetic exchange coupling betweenthe magnetically permeable films of the SUL and the RL and facilitatesepitaxial growth of the RL. While not shown in FIG. 2, a seed layer istypically deposited directly on the SUL to facilitate the growth of theIL. As shown in FIG. 2, the RL is located inside the gap of the“apparent” recording head (ARH), which allows for significantly higherwrite fields compared to longitudinal or in-plane recording. The ARHcomprises the write pole (FIG. 1) which is the real write head (RWH)above the disk, and an effective secondary write pole (SWP) beneath theRL. The SWP is facilitated by the SUL, which is decoupled from the RL bythe IL and by virtue of its high permeability produces a magnetic mirrorimage of the RWH during the write process. This effectively brings theRL into the gap of the ARH and allows for a large write field H_(w),inside the RL.

One type of material for the RL is a granular ferromagnetic cobaltalloy, such as a CoPtCr alloy, with a hexagonal-close-packed (hcp)crystalline structure having the c-axis oriented substantiallyout-of-plane or perpendicular to the RL. The granular cobalt alloy RLshould also have a well-isolated fine-grain structure to produce ahigh-coercivity (H_(c)) media and to reduce intergranular exchangecoupling, which is responsible for high intrinsic media noise.Enhancement of grain segregation in the cobalt alloy RL is achieved bythe addition of oxides, including oxides of Si, Ta, Ti, and Nb. Theseoxides tend to precipitate to the grain boundaries, and together withthe elements of the cobalt alloy form nonmagnetic intergranularmaterial. A perpendicular magnetic recording medium with a RL of aCoPtCr granular alloy with added SiO₂ is described by H. Uwazumi, etal., “CoPtCr—SiO₂ Granular Media for High-Density PerpendicularRecording”, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 39, No. 4, July 2003,pp. 1914-1918. A perpendicular magnetic recording medium with a RL of aCoPt granular alloy with added Ta₂O₅ is described by T. Chiba et al.,“Structure and magnetic properties of Co—Pt—Ta₂O₅ film for perpendicularmagnetic recording media”, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials,Vol. 287, February 2005, pp. 167-171.

The cobalt alloy RL has substantially out-of-plane or perpendicularmagnetic anisotropy as a result of the c-axis of its hcp crystallinestructure being induced to grow substantially perpendicular to the planeof the layer during deposition. To induce this growth of the hcp RL, theIL onto which the RL is formed is also an hcp material. Ruthenium (Ru)and certain Ru alloys, such as RuCr, are nonmagnetic hcp materials thatare used for the IL.

The enhancement of segregation of the magnetic grains in the RL by theadditive oxides is important for achieving high areal density andrecording performance. The intergranular material not only effectivelydecouples intergranular exchange but also exerts control on the size anddistribution of the magnetic grains in the RL. Current disk fabricationmethods achieve this segregated RL by growing the RL on an IL thatexhibits columnar growth of its grains. The columnar growth of the IL isaccomplished by sputter depositing it at a relatively high sputteringpressure. However, growth of the RL on this type of IL leads tosignificant roughness and discontinuities in the RL, and consequently toreduced mechanical integrity of the protective OC. Poor OC coverage,roughness in the RL, and columnar growth of the IL provide a relativelyeasy path for water and corrosive agents to migrate through these layersand interact with the SUL. Formation of the IL at reduced sputteringpressure can reduce the RL roughness and improve the corrosionresistance of the disk. However, disks with ILs formed at lowersputtering pressure exhibit significantly reduced coercivity and thuspoor recording performance.

What is needed is a perpendicular magnetic recording disk that has agranular cobalt alloy RL with additive oxides and that exhibits goodcorrosion resistance without compromising recording performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a perpendicular magnetic recording disk with a granularcobalt alloy recording layer (RL) containing an additive oxide oroxides, an intermediate layer (IL) as an exchange-break layer on theSUL, and an ultrathin nucleation film (NF) between the IL and the RL. Inthe method of making the disk, the IL is deposited at substantiallylower sputtering pressure than in the prior art, to thereby reduce theroughness of the RL and overcoat (OC), while the NF and RL are depositedat substantially higher sputtering pressures. The resulting disk hasgood recording properties and improved corrosion resistance over acomparable disk made with an IL deposited at high sputtering pressureand without the NF.

The NF is ultrathin, less than about 1.5 nm, and preferably less thanabout 1.0 nm. In this thickness regime, the thickness is an “average”thickness of a discontinuous film, so that the surface onto which the RLis deposited includes both the IL material and clusters or regions ofthe NF material. In one embodiment the NF is an oxide of Ta, Ti, Nb, Si,Mn or Hf The NF may also include Co or a Co alloy in addition to theoxide.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention, reference should be made to the following detaileddescription taken together with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a prior art perpendicular magnetic recordingsystem.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a cross-section of a perpendicular magneticrecording disk according to the prior art and depicting the write field.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a cross-section of a perpendicular magneticrecording disk according to the prior art and illustrating anantiferromagnetically-coupled SUL.

FIG. 4 is a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of a portion ofa disk with a CoPtCr—SiO₂ RL formed on an IL of a bilayer of Ru.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of a cross-section of a perpendicular magneticrecording disk according to this invention and illustrating a nucleationfilm (NF) between the IL and the RL.

FIG. 6 is a graph of RL coercivity as a function of RL sputteringpressure for a disk according to this invention with a nucleation filmbetween the IL and RL.

FIG. 7 is a graph of RL coercivity as a function of RL deposition orgrowth rate for a disk according to this invention with a nucleationfilm between the IL and RL.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a cross-section of a perpendicular magneticrecording disk according to the prior art and illustrating anantiferromagnetically-coupled SUL. The various layers making up the diskare located on the hard disk substrate. The substrate may be anycommercially available glass substrate, but may also be a conventionalaluminum alloy with a NiP or other known surface coating, or analternative substrate, such as silicon, canasite or silicon-carbide. TheSUL is located on the substrate, either directly on the substrate ordirectly on an adhesion layer or OL. The OL facilitates the growth ofthe SUL and may be an AlTi alloy or a similar material with a thicknessof about 2-5 nanometers (nm). In the disk of FIG. 3, the SUL is alaminated or multilayered SUL formed of multiple soft magnetic layers(SULa and SULb) separated by an interlayer film (such as Ru, Ir, or Cr)that acts as an antiferromagnetic (AF) coupling film to mediateantiferromagnetic exchange coupling between SULa and SULb. This type ofSUL is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,686,070 B1 and 6,835,475 B2.However, instead of the AF-coupled SUL, the SUL may be a single-layerSUL or a non-AF-coupled laminated or multilayered SUL that is formed ofmultiple soft magnetic films separated by nonmagnetic films, such asfilms of carbon or SiN or electrically conductive films of Al or CoCr.The SUL layer or layers are formed of amorphous magnetically permeablematerials such as alloys of CoNiFe, FeCoB, CoCuFe, NiFe, FeAlSi, FeTaN,FeN, FeTaC, CoTaZr, CoFeB, and CoZrNb. The thickness of the SUL istypically in the range of approximately 50-400 nm. The OC formed on theRL may be an amorphous “diamond-like” carbon film or other knownprotective overcoat, such as silicon nitride (SiN).

The nonmagnetic IL on the SUL is a nonmagnetic metal or alloy having ahexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal structure for controlling the hcpcrystal orientation in the granular RL. The IL promotes the growth ofthe hcp granular RL so that its c-axis is oriented substantiallyperpendicular, thereby resulting in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.Ruthenium (Ru) is a commonly used material for the IL, but othermaterials include a metal selected from Ti, Re, and Os, and an alloycontaining at least one element selected from Ti, Re, Ru, and Os,including Ru-based alloys such as a RuCr alloy. The IL may be formed ona seed layer (SL) formed on the SUL.

The RL is a granular ferromagnetic Co alloy with intergranular materialthat includes an oxide or oxides. The oxides are typically oxides of oneor more of Si, Ta, Ti and Nb. The RL may also contain Cr, with one ormore oxides of Cr also being present as intergranular material.

FIG. 4 is a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of a portion ofa disk with a CoPtCr—SiO₂ RL formed on an IL of a bilayer of Ru. FIG. 4illustrates the segregated nature of the RL, i.e., the magnetic grainssegregated by the intergranular material, which is predominantly SiO₂.The IL was a first Ru layer (5 nm) sputter deposited at relatively lowpressure (6 mTorr) followed by a second Ru layer (12 nm) sputterdeposited at relatively high pressure (36 mTorr). The columnar growth ofthe upper Ru layer in the IL drives the segregation of the magneticgrains in the RL, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The columnar growth isbelieved due to the low surface mobility of the sputtered particleswhich is a result of the loss of kinetic energy due to the high numberof collisions experienced in the high pressure sputtering environment.The high pressure sputter deposition of the IL can cause adjacentgranular columns in the RL to have height variations comparable to theOC thickness, which can cause faults in the OC. The intergranularregions in the RL also exhibit a high density of voids andcrystallographic faults which can provide pathways for humidity andcorrosive gases to interact with the underlying SUL.

Reducing the sputtering pressure during deposition of the IL is known toimprove the corrosion resistance of the disk. For example, for the diskwith the dual-layer Ru IL as described above, a reduction of thesputtering pressure during deposition of the upper Ru layer from 46mTorr to 36 mTorr improved the corrosion resistance of the disk.However, larger reductions in sputtering pressure lead to RLs withunacceptable values for coercivity and nucleation field. To achieve highperformance perpendicular magnetic recording disks at ultra-highrecording densities, e.g., greater than 200 Gbits/in², the RL shouldexhibit low intrinsic media noise (high signal-to-noise ratio or SNR), acoercivity H_(c) greater than about 5000 Oe, and a nucleation fieldH_(n) greater (more negative) than about −1500 Oe. The nucleation fieldH_(n) has several meanings, but as used herein it is the reversingfield, preferably in the second quadrant of the M-H hysteresis loop, atwhich the magnetization drops to 90% of its saturation value M_(s). Themore negative the nucleation field, the more stable the remanentmagnetic state will be because a larger reversing field is required toalter the magnetization. Table 1 shows the values of H_(c) and H_(n) fordisks with a CoPtCr—SiO₂ RL and a 16 nm thick IL of Ru₇₅Cr₂₅, where thesubscripts refer to atomic percent (at. %), deposited at differentsputtering pressures.

TABLE 1 Sputtering Pressure (mTorr) H_(c) (Oe) H_(n) (Oe) 46 6612 −20939.7 3737 −1316 4.0 2747 −847

Table 1 shows that as the sputtering pressure for the IL is reduced,significant losses in H_(c) and H_(n) are observed. This is believed tobe due to changes in interface morphology such as roughness at the IL-RLinterface, which hinders the desired segregation of the RL grains andthus the development of high H_(c) and H_(n).

The perpendicular magnetic recording disk according to the presentinvention is illustrated in FIG. 5. The structure is similar to theprior art structure of FIG. 3 but includes an ultrathin nucleation film(NF) between the IL and the RL. The disk has an RL with high H_(c) andH_(n) but is made with a method that does not require an IL deposited athigh sputtering pressure. The IL is deposited at relatively lowsputtering pressure (less than about 12 mTorr). As a result, there is noinducing of roughness in the RL and OC and thus no increase in corrosionsusceptibility. The NF controls the segregation of the RL magneticgrains without negatively impacting the RL's epitaxial growth, which isneeded to orient the c-axis of the RL out-of-plane. The NF is ultrathin,less than about 1.5 nm, and preferably less than about 1.0 nm. In thisthickness regime, the thickness is an “average” thickness of adiscontinuous film, so that the surface onto which the RL is depositedincludes both the IL material and clusters or regions of the NFmaterial. The NF is deposited at relatively high sputtering pressure(greater than about 30 mTorr) to encourage cluster formation on the IL.Also, when the RL is deposited at a relatively low deposition or growthrate on the NF the segregation of the magnetic grains in the RL isimproved.

Table 2 shows the values of H_(c) and H_(n), for disks with aCoPtCr—SiO₂ RL and a 16 nm thick IL of Ru₇₅Cr₂₅ deposited at twodifferent low sputtering pressures, but with a NF of Ta₂O₅ less than 0.3nm thick formed on the IL before deposition of the RL.

TABLE 2 Sputtering Pressure (mTorr) H_(c) (Oe) H_(n) (Oe) 9.7 6578 −26744.0 4149 −2190

As shown by Table 2, the coercivity and nucleation fields aredramatically increased from the values in Table 1 in which the RL isgrown on the high-pressure sputter-deposited Ru₇₅Cr₂₅ IL without a NF.

The data of Table 2 was for a NF formed of an oxide of Ta. However, thebenefits of the NF are believed extendible to other oxides, such asoxides of Ti, Nb, Si, Mn and Hf.

The NF may also comprise Co or a Co alloy in addition to the oxide. Inone example the NF was a 0.3 nm thick film of CoCrPt—Ta₂O₅ formed byco-sputtering from targets of Co, Cr₅₆Pt₄₄ and Ta₂O₅. Variouscompositions of this NF were tested, with Co content ranging from about8 to 62 at. %. For Co content less than about 50 at. % in the NF thecoercivity of the RL was above 6000 Oe. This amount of Co issignificantly less than the at. % Co present in the RL, which istypically greater than about 50 at. %.

The NF may also comprise Ru in addition to the oxide. In one example theNF was a 0.5 to 1.5 nm thick film of Ru—Ta₂O₅ sputtered from singletargets manufactured to contain Ru amounts ranging from 70% to 96%.Disks with various compositions of this NF were tested, with the bestresults being for NFs with Ta₂O₅ content ranging from about 4 to 15 at.% (Ru content between about 85 and 96 at. %). The NFs sputtered fromsingle Ru—Ta₂O₅ targets led to comparable improvements in recordingproperties as those fabricated by co-sputtering Ru and Ta₂O₅.

For the NF with Co or a cobalt alloy, the recording properties areimproved if the RL is deposited a sputtering pressure significantlyhigher than the sputtering pressure for the IL and at a relatively slowdeposition or growth rate. The relationship between coercivity andsputtering pressure is shown in FIG. 6 for a Co₈₁(Ta₂O₅)₁₉ NF with aCoPtCr—SiO₂ RL and a Ru₇₅Cr₂₅ IL deposited at 9.7 mTorr. The optimalvalues of coercivity for the RL are achieved for sputtering pressuresbetween about 30 and 60 mTorr. The relationship between RL coercivityand RL growth rates is shown in FIG. 7 for a Co₈₁(Ta₂O₅)₁₉ NF with aCoPtCr—SiO₂ RL and a Ru₇₅Cr₂₅ IL deposited at 9.7 mTorr.

The NF may also be formed of an alloy of two or more of elementsincluding the elements Co, Cr, Ti, Zr, Mo, V and W. In one example, a NFformed of Co(Cr₅₆Pt₄₄) provided similar results to NFs containing anoxide.

The disks of this invention also provided improvements in SNR overcomparable disks made without nucleation films. SNR measurementsperformed at a linear density of about 750 kfci (thousand flux changesper inch) on disks with a single Ru₇₅Cr₂₅ IL grown at 46, 9.7, and 4mTorr, respectively, showed SNR losses of 5.6 and 8 dB, respectively,when the sputtering pressure was dropped from 46 to 9.7 and 4 mTorr.This is consistent with an increase in recording noise by factors of 3.6of 6.3 for sputter deposition at 9.7 and 4 mTorr, respectively. Incontrast, the SNR for disks with a CoPtCr—Ta₂O₅ NF on a Ru₇₅Cr₂₅ ILgrown at 9.7 and 4 mTorr showed SNR losses of only 1.0 and 2.7 dB,respectively. Similar improvements were measured in structures with NFsof Ta₂O₅ and (Cr₅₆Pt₄₄)(Ta₂O₅).

Measurements of both jitter and bit error rate (BER) also showed thatthe disks of this invention provided improvements over comparable disksmade without nucleation films.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Accordingly, the disclosed invention is to be considered merely asillustrative and limited in scope only as specified in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A perpendicular magnetic recording mediumcomprising: a substrate; an underlayer of magnetically permeablematerial on the substrate; a nonmagnetic intermediate layer formed onthe underlayer; a discontinuous nucleation film on and in contact withthe intermediate layer, the nucleation film comprising Ru and an oxideof Ti and having a thickness less than 1.0 nm; and a perpendicularmagnetic recording layer on and in contact with the nucleation film andcomprising a granular ferromagnetic Co alloy.
 2. The medium of claim 1wherein the intermediate layer comprises a metal selected from Ru, Ti,Re, and Os.
 3. The medium of claim 2 wherein the intermediate layercomprises an alloy containing at least one element selected from Ru, Ti,Re, and Os.
 4. The medium of claim 3 wherein the intermediate layercomprises a RuCr alloy.
 5. The medium of claim 1 wherein the underlayerof magnetically permeable material is formed of a material selected fromthe group consisting of alloys of CoFe, CoNiFe, NiFe, FeCoB, CoCuFe,FeAlSi, FeTaN, FeN, FeTaC, CoTaZr and CoZrNb.
 6. The medium of claim 1wherein the underlayer of magnetically permeable material is alamination of multiple magnetically permeable films separated bynonmagnetic films.
 7. The medium of claim 6 wherein the nonmagneticfilms in the lamination provide antiferromagnetic coupling of themagnetically permeable films in the lamination.
 8. The medium of claim 1wherein the recording layer further comprises one or more oxides of oneor more of Si, Ta, Ti and Nb.
 9. A perpendicular magnetic recording diskcomprising: a substrate; an underlayer of magnetically permeablematerial on the substrate; a nonmagnetic intermediate layer on theunderlayer and comprising a material selected from Ru and a Ru alloy; adiscontinuous nucleation film comprising Ru and Ta₂O₅ on and in contactwith the intermediate layer, the nucleation film having a thickness lessthan about 1.5 nm; and a perpendicular magnetic recording layer on andin contact with the nucleation film and comprising a granularferromagnetic Co alloy and one or more oxides of one or more of Si, Ta,Ti and Nb.
 10. The disk of claim 9 wherein the atomic percent of Ru inthe nucleation film is between about 85 and
 96. 11. A perpendicularmagnetic recording system comprising: the disk of claim 9; a write headfor magnetizing regions in the recording layer of said disk; and a readhead for detecting the transitions between said magnetized regions.